IN Brief:
- Roquette reported higher protein volumes and sales during the first half of 2026.
- Proteins and fibres continued to gain momentum across Europe, North America, and parts of Asia.
- Pricing pressure and North American reliability costs continue to constrain established ingredient categories.
Roquette has reported higher protein volumes and sales during the first half of 2026, with fibre and protein products contributing to growth across several markets while established starch and sweetener categories remained under pricing pressure.
Group turnover increased 9% to €2.586 billion and current EBITDA rose 18% to €337 million. The current EBITDA margin reached 13%, although like for like turnover and current EBITDA both fell 2%, showing how acquisition effects, portfolio changes and currency movements contributed to the headline improvement.
The food and nutrition picture was similarly mixed. Roquette said protein volumes and sales increased against the first half of 2025, supporting its strategy to expand higher value pea ingredients. Fibre and protein activity also contributed to growth in Asia, with the company highlighting commercial performance in India and China.
Commodity categories were more difficult. Roquette reported intense pricing pressure in Europe for liquid sugars, powder polyols and modified starches, while North American results were affected by industrial reliability problems, maintenance expenditure and pressure in liquid sugars. The contrast puts more weight on specialised ingredients to improve portfolio mix rather than relying on broad market growth.
Protein ingredients are one part of that shift. Pea based systems can be used in nutrition products, bakery, beverages and other formulations where manufacturers want additional protein or alternatives to animal derived ingredients. Their value depends on more than protein percentage, because solubility, flavour, texture, colour, heat stability and process behaviour all affect whether an ingredient works in an industrial recipe.
Fibre presents a similar formulation challenge. Soluble and functional fibres can support fibre enrichment, sugar reduction and texture management, but changing one component often alters viscosity, mouthfeel, water binding, shelf life or processing behaviour elsewhere in the product. Ingredient suppliers therefore compete increasingly on application support as well as the physical material they deliver.
Thierry Fournier, chief executive of Roquette, said the company is “encouraged by the early progress of Shift & Lead”. The programme is intended to improve competitiveness, operating performance and cash generation, and Roquette said it had already delivered more than €60 million of benefit.
Working capital has been another focus. Free cash flow improved to a negative €54 million from a negative €150 million in the first half of 2025 before acquisition effects, while the cash outflow associated with working capital fell to €94 million from €223 million. Inventories were reduced by €127 million across the business units.
Capital expenditure increased to €125 million from €114 million. Those numbers are important in an ingredients business because plant reliability, capacity and inventory discipline determine whether a more specialised portfolio can be supplied consistently. Roquette’s North American reliability costs show how quickly maintenance and operating instability can dilute gains from stronger demand elsewhere.
Scaling protein and fibre production places additional demands on raw material intake, separation, drying, blending, quality control and application testing. Customers buying functional ingredients expect repeatable performance from batch to batch, so a wider product mix can increase complexity even where individual products achieve higher margins than commodity starches or sweeteners.
The same complexity appears in inventory. Specialised food ingredients may serve narrower applications and customer specifications, making forecasting and stock management different from high volume commodity products. Cutting inventory can release cash, but service levels still have to be protected where customers depend on particular grades for validated recipes and production schedules.
Roquette’s first half numbers show why portfolio mix has become central to the strategy. Group volumes rose 2% like for like while like for like turnover declined, reflecting an environment where price pressure remains difficult in mature categories. Proteins, fibres and other specialised ingredients have to generate enough value to offset weaker economics elsewhere rather than simply adding growth on top of a uniformly strong base.
Operational execution will determine how much of that mix shift reaches earnings. Higher value ingredients still depend on reliable plants, disciplined maintenance, raw material availability and technical support, while customers will continue to judge new formulations against cost and manufacturing performance as well as nutritional positioning.
The second half will test whether the current protein and fibre momentum can be sustained while Roquette works through pricing pressure and reliability costs in the rest of the food and nutrition portfolio. The strategic direction is visible in the sales mix; the next measure is whether it produces durable improvement at plant and margin level.
